The Writer in the Family
The fiction of E. L. Doctorow gave a young man hope of connecting his father and his literary hero
By Jonathan Liebson Wednesday, January 8, 2025
The Weight of a Stone
Searching for stability in an erratic world led Oliver Sacks and other writers to the realms of geology
By Megan Craig Thursday, January 2, 2025
Under a Spell Everlasting
Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain, published a century ago, tells of a world unable to free itself from the cataclysm of war
By Samantha Rose Hill Monday, December 2, 2024
The Fair Fields 
Only rarely did the outside world intrude on an idyllic Connecticut childhood, but in the tumultuous 1960s, that intrusion included an encounter with evil
By Rosanna Warren Monday, December 2, 2024
In the Mushroom
True foraging isn’t the domain of the weekend warrior; it’s serious, serious business
By Michael Autrey Monday, December 2, 2024
The Brahmin and His Imaginary Friend
How a classic paean to the honest virtues of a Maine fisherman obscured several ugly truths
By Janna Malamud Smith Monday, December 2, 2024
Granaries of Language
Dictionaries are far more than alphabetized collections of words
By Ilan Stavans Monday, December 2, 2024
Reborn in the City of Light
At a time when Paris was an incubator of modernism, a group of bold American women arrived to make art out of their lives
By Rosanna Warren Thursday, October 24, 2024
Thoreau’s Pencils
How might a newly discovered
connection to slavery change
our understanding of an abolitionist
hero and his writing?
By Augustine Sedgewick Thursday, October 17, 2024
Who Cares About Executive Supremacy?
The scope of presidential power is the most urgent and the most ignored legal and political issue of our time
By Lincoln Caplan Saturday, December 1, 2007
Moral Principle vs. Military Necessity
The first code of conduct during warfare, created by a Civil War–era Prussian immigrant, reflected ambiguities we struggle with to this day
By David Bosco Saturday, December 1, 2007
Dreaming of a Democratic Russia
Memories of a year in Moscow promoting a post-Soviet political process, an undertaking that now seems futile
By Sarah E. Mendelson Saturday, December 1, 2007
The Daily Miracle
Life with the mavericks and oddballs at the Herald Tribune
By William Zinsser Saturday, December 1, 2007
Cuss Time
By limiting freedom of expression, we take away thoughts and ideas before they have the opportunity to hatch
By Jill McCorkle Saturday, December 1, 2007
Alone at the Movies
My days in the dark with Robert Altman and Woody Allen
By Mark Edmundson Saturday, December 1, 2007
Balanchine’s Cabinet
A young woman wins a drawing and learns to give and to receive
By Ann Hagman Cardinal Saturday, December 1, 2007
Confluences
As a beloved uncle makes his final journey in the wilderness, a new life begins
By Jennifer Sinor Saturday, December 1, 2007
